Do you shred documents at home, or have a service?

[HardDrive]

In the past, I have dropped my shredding off at a company to have them destroyed, but all the companies (at least the ones that I would trust) have moved quite a ways out from where I live.

If you shred at home, can you recommend a serious machine for the job? We get tons of junk mail like CC apps and such. We've had a shredder, but it was slow going. Very frustrating.

[GH85Carrera]

I only shred the unsolicited CC apps and the few other important things as they come in. The vast majority of my bills are on-line pay and paper-less. I have not received a paper statement from my bank or CC card company in years. I have a cheap unit that only need to be emptied once a month. The rest of the junk mail just goes in the trash.

[Zeke]

If you don't want to take the time to separate the addresses and other info and shred what only needs to be shredded, get the biggest baddest cross shredder you can. Otherwise you will kill a little shredder.

I open every envelope as opposed to dropping in a full one. Occasionally I will get something metallic in one which is a definite killer. I once got a dime in an envelope. That would have fixed the shredder good.

Whole envelopes with pretend plastic cards in them will take your shredder out inside a year.

[gprsh924]

If using a cheap shredder at at home, at least use a cross cut as it will be harder to reconstruct.

Anyone in the Chicagoland area please feel free to contact me about any document shredding needs. It's my business.

[pwd72s]

shred at home...then burn in the wood stove.

[redstrosekNic]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

shred at home...then burn in the wood stove.

+1

[id10t]

Originally Posted by redstrosekNic

+1

+2, although I skip the shredding part and go straight for the burning in my burn barrel w/ some yard debris...

[KFC911]

I shred the pertinent stuff after seperating it from the bulk. When working, I took a "bagful at a time" to work and used the heavy duty ones there....

[syncroid]

I burn ours.

[herr_oberst]

When I worked for a large shoe company based in the area (Hint, rhymes with 'crikey') they were getting rid of one of their large industrial shredders, which ended up in my house.
This thing is the tits, the motor is as big as a car alternator, it automatically shreds up to a ream one sheet at a time in a special hopper, or you can just feed all the crap you want into the maw.

So, the long-winded answer is yes, I shred at home.

[legion]

I shred at home, but have taken the drive out to East Peoria to drop stuff off at Iron Mountain when I find myself in possession of more than I can reasonably shred. Last time I did it, it was $0.10 a pound with a $20 minimum. Well worth it when I found myself in possession of all of the payroll records for my dad's various failed businesses.

My current shredder is a $50 unit, forget who makes it. It says it will do 12 pages at a time, but it's more like 3. I'd like to find one that can handle some decent bulk for around $200.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by syncroid

I burn ours.

As do I, got tired of replacing shreaders, bought a SS Fire pit at Home Depot, works great and goes in my mulch pile..

[Rot 911]

The Staples brand shredders are an excellent shredder. Lots to choose from. Here is the one I use in my office daily. Three years and still shredding away. Staples® 18-Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder | Staples®

[masraum]

There are 2 main types of shredders, strip cut and cross cut. Strip cut will turn a page into a bunch of long strips, but the cross cut will turn a page into confetti. I prefer the idea of the cross cut, but the "con" of the cross cut is that it takes a stronger motor to do the same amount of stuff. I spent a bit extra to make sure that I could do several sheets of paper, staples, credit cards, etc....

I think this is pretty close to the one that I have.

Fellowes Powershred B-121C 12-Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder | Staples®

* 12-Sheet, Cross-Cut, Deskside Shredder, Shreds Credit Cards, CDs/DVDs and Staples
* 10 minute continuous run time
* Shreds 9 feet per minute
* 5.5 gallon wastebasket capacity with pull-out bin
* Cross-Cut shred size: 0.156" x 1.437"
* 64 decibel noise level
* Dimensions (H x W x D): 22.25"H x 13.81"W x 10.25"D
* Warranty (Full / Cutter): 1 year machine / 1 year on cutters

[teenerted1]

[flipper35]

Goes in the fire ring here or gets used in the chimney starter for the charcoal if it is plain paper.

[wdfifteen]

Shredder??

[on2wheels52]

I burn at least a half-dozen brush piles a year, documents make good fire starters.
Jim

[Zeke]

Well, that's one you guys all have over CA. Trash burning here carries a fine.

[notmytarga]

Certainly there are times when shredding is advisable. Where patient privacy is concerned I don't have a choice - so I load up the bins at work with that stuff when needed. My home financial stuff usually gets put in recycling. I handle all the bills and stuff and toss most stuff into the recycle bin - it gets turned into mulch soon enough. Call me un-paranoid. Our recycling program doesn't allow shredded paper as it clogs the sorting equipment. The shredder sits by my wife's desk in the office - I don't know what she feels the need to shred, but it gets filled up every month or two, during which time I might shred a credit card or bank statement. Online banking/billing helps.

Other options -
Our local landfill supposedly welcomes shredables at the beginning of the day, with the idea that it will be buried under tons of trash and dirt forever.
When my father closed his Psychiatric practice, he took all his records to Wheelabrator who burned them beyond ash and offered to pay him for the generating fuel. Usually they do wood pulp to make electricity.
I have a storage unit filled with boxes of records from our past billing service....and an engine stand, ATV lift, 2.7 case, 1975 heat exchangers, etc. that I pay 1/18th of via our group practice. It will be 7 years in 2 years and I have to give up my expanded storage and find a way to get rid of a minivan full, securely.